The Sweet Smell of Cherries
by ajksmusic
Summary: He always hated the smell of cherries, until Kate Beckett decidedly changed his perception. - Longest story I've ever posted, and the title/summary are meh. One bad word. -


**Disclaimer: Not mine, all belong to ABC, blah blah blah. I'm really just playing with them for the time being, before my brain explodes from that finale that still has me reeling.**

Growing up, Richard Castle hated the smell of cherries. That nauseating, artificial, medicinal cherry odor that lingered through everything. It didn't matter if it was cherry pie filling, cough drops, someone's body spray. It coiled his stomach and made him cringe. Until that one case, when he caught a whiff of cherries mixed with something feminine. Kate Beckett had decidedly changed his view of cherries. Now Castle hunted for them. He wasn't sure if it was her shampoo, her body wash, her spray, or what. But whatever it was, he was determined to find out.

Currently watching his inspiration do paperwork, all Castle could smell was that infuriatingly sensual scent, and it was driving him absolutely insane. His brain had been attempting to solve this puzzle and he was getting nowhere.

_Body wash? No, that can't be it._

"Castle."

… _shampoo? No, it's not all the time …_

"Castle!"

_C'mon, man, you're better at this. What in the he-_

"Castle!" She sounded completely exasperated.

"Woah! Huh?" Castle started at the sudden sound in his ear and blinked. Usually he had more focus than this, and now he was unsure of why she had this particular emotion.

"I've been talking to you for about five minutes. Have you heard anything I've said?" Beckett honestly had no idea what was going on with him. She knew he had been distracted for the past couple of days, and his attention span was minimal at best, but tuning someone out? That wasn't like Castle, not at all.

"What? Sorry, what's up?" This was getting bad. She was starting to notice that he had no focus, that he couldn't concentrate on anything.

"It's late. Why are you still here? You have this thing … family? Alexis, Martha …?"

He shook his head. "Mother is out for the night, and Alexis has finals coming up. Besides, I'm working on my own puzzle." Oh he so shouldn't have said that, it just wasn't going to turn out well at all.

"Should I ask?" Of course Beckett wasn't going to let it go. It was distracting him, for crying out loud. She may be dedicated to work, but she sure was curious about what could get Castle silent.

"No, it's nothing. You know what, I think I'm going to head home. It's been a long day and all, and Alexis has homework and those things, you know."

_Really, Castle, you think she's going to fall for that? It's Alexis, for crying out loud. You need to tell Beckett that you have to go home and make sure she gets her homework done? Feeble attempt, man. Just sad._

Beckett tilted her head and just stared at him. "Homework? Is everything alright at school? She doesn't seem the type to need reminding to do homework, or to need you around to help."

"Oh no, everything is fine. Finals are coming up though, and while I love my daughter, a flying ball of red hair is generally what hits casa del Castle. Oddly enough, I'm her voice of sanity."

She snorts. "You? Voice of sanity? That poor girl."

"Until tomorrow, Detective."

_Phew, got out of that one fast. Doubt she fell for that one, but thank heavens she didn't question it._

Coming into his loft, Castle saw what he was expecting to see: Alexis at the kitchen table, earbuds in place, surrounded by mountains of papers and books. Ahh, finals week. He did not mourn the passing of those years.

_Perhaps you should use this opportunity to do what you should be doing. _Sometimes he loathed that voice inside his head, his obnoxious "voice of reason" that felt the need to tell him what his actual job was. Not that Gina and Paula (and sometimes his mother) didn't do an amazing job of that anyways. Deciding to head into his study, he thoroughly hoped that something would come to his brain and come out onto the keyboard.

An hour later, he had nothing. Restless Castle had decided to rear his ugly head, and he needed to wander. His focus, or what little there was of it, had gone flying out the window after Beckett had turned and he'd gotten a whiff of those cursed cherries. Really, it was her fault. Surely she knows what it does to him?

There. That's all he needed to do. Blame Beckett. Grinning to himself, he realized that he wasn't going to get anything done today, anyways. Why not have a little fun procrastinating? Grabbing his remote control, he knew how he could keep Alexis from going insane.

Twenty minutes later, while having successfully landed amongst her homework, the poor chopper did not survive the incoming attack of the Wrath of Alexis. _Perhaps not my greatest plan_, he thought with regret. Never one to back down from a challenge, he decided his procrastination could go a little further. Without bothering Alexis, apparently.

The last thing Beckett was expecting at nine on a Friday night was a knock on her door. Granted, the last thing she really should be expecting would be the fact that she was spending her Friday night reading a book with a bottle of wine and some jazz in the background. She would, however, lie under oath about which particular author she was reading with that bottle of wine (never would it be Castle. Maybe).

Eyeing her door warily, she picked herself up off her couch and peered through her peephole. Castle. Of course. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door.

What she also wasn't expecting was the sad look on his face. With his head hanging low, he uttered a small, "Hi, Beckett."

Crinkling her brows, she tilted her head sideways. "Castle? I thought you were keeping an eye on Alexis while she studied for finals." If it were at all possible, she swore she saw his head droop even lower.

"She kicked me out." The poor writer looked absolutely dejected. "I was apparently 'too distracting' and had to leave. It wasn't pretty. A lot of crying and whining."

She bit back a laugh. "Aww, she seems so much older than that. Alexis, crying and whining about studying?"

He paused. "Yeah, we'll go with 'it was Alexis.' So ..." He was starting to look sheepish, and she was _really_ starting to wonder about his intentions in coming here. "Whatcha dooooin'?"

"Castle ..."

"It's just for a few hours, I swear! She just wants me out of the loft for a bit so she can study. I stopped by the precinct but you weren't there, and I really didn't want to go to a bar, because who drinks by themselves, really, that's just sad, and I just need something to occupy my time. Not that you're just 'something' but I really want something to do, unless you want to let me wander the streets of New York City, and we all know how that turned out the last time, and really Beckett? You'd probably just have to arrest me anyways and then - "

"Castle."

"What?"

"Just shut up and come in." Holding the door open for him, Beckett watched as he entered her apartment and took in his surroundings. "You said just for a few hours?"

Castle turned and looked at Beckett, "Yeah, all she needs is some peace and quiet. And not me, apparently."

"You didn't take out the helicopter, did you? Castle, tell me you didn't." She knew what his response was going to be, because really, this was Castle.

"I … didn't?" She lifted one eyebrow and he hung his head. "I did. And Guitar Hero. And maybe some Halo. And Knights of the Old Republic. Maybe."

"No wonder she kicked you out. And you came to me looking for what, sympathy?" Beckett figured that wasn't the case, but it was just so easy to tease him sometimes. He made it far too easy.

"Noooo! No, that's not it at all! Beckett, you know me better than that! C'mon, I just told you! Me, wandering the streets of New York is just bad and you're so just making fun of me now. Not cool." All he had to do was look at the smirk forming on her face, and he knew he'd been had. "I know, I know. I make it 'so easy.' Cruel, Becks, that's just cruel."

"Becks? I'm sorry, when did I say I allowed nicknames? You come crawling to my apartment in the middle of the night - "

"It's only 9 - "

" - after your _daughter_ kicks you out, and you try to call me 'Becks'? Really, Castle? You could only come up with 'Becks'?" She cocked an eyebrow, and she knew she was toeing the line with the teasing, but the look on his face, boy it was priceless. But it was now rapidly turning into that "dejected puppy look" and she realized she had gone too far. "I'm sorry Castle, I'm just teasing you. Have a seat on the couch."

Castle looked away, and she knew there was going to be another uncomfortable question. "Actually … there is something that I need to do."

"Bathroom is down the hall, Castle. Just put the seat down when you're done."

"Thank you, but that's not what I was going to ask. Well, yes, I do need the bathroom, but not for the reason you're thinking. Alexis kicked me out before I could take a shower, and I was just wondering if I could ..." His bottom lip was starting to stick out at this point, and she knew it was only a moment in time before he would start the fake tears.

"You know what, Castle. Go ahead. It's been a long day, I don't want to argue about it." She walked right up to him and poked him in the chest. "You touch anything, sneak through any drawers, sneak through a cabinet, and you'll find out where I keep my gun in my apartment, understand?"

He smirked down at her. "Understood. Towels?"

"Cabinet above the toilet."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to go i-"

"Just get the towels and go! Before I change my mind and kick you out, too." All she really wanted was to get back to her peace and quiet.

After heading down her hall, Castle opened her bathroom door. The smell of cherries enveloped him as he walked through. It was all encompassing, going straight through his nose down to his toes.

_Oh lord help me._ He had completely forgotten about that smell on his way over here, and now, in her bathroom? It's all he could smell, and it was torturing him.

_Castle. Use your head. You're now AT the source of the smell! You can find out what it is! _ The proverbial devil on his shoulder was taunting him. He knew he could find it out. Just open one cabinet door. Maybe two … that's all it would take.

_She won't hesitate to shoot you. Or something even worse. You know this._

Damn. Castle opened the door with the towels in it, grabbed one, and began getting undressed. Jumping into the shower, he realized his error. No body wash. No shampoo. Nothing from his home. He saw a couple bottles sitting on the shelves, and figured he'd just use a bit of those, just to get a bit of the daily grime off of him. Grabbing one of the bottles, he opened it, and the smell of cherries hit him, nearly knocking him over. This was it … he was going to know what made Kate Beckett smell so deliciously tantalizing. Turning the bottle over, he just couldn't believe it. _This_ was what he was obsessed with? All that teasing, the months of driving him insane, came down to this? _Oh, she is never living this down. Never, ever, ever._

Grinning to himself, Castle finished up his shower and headed out into her living room. That hint of cherries that haunted his dreams, that hint of cherries that was "Detective Beckett" and "Kate" all wrapped into one? Castle now knew that what made her so irresistible and sensuous was, in actuality, "Suave Kids: Cherry Jams."

_AN: Ok, this started out as about 19 different ideas on a page and in my head, and has been several months of work that would just be an added paragraph here and there. Finished this up the other night, and Comcast was only giving me internet in 5 minute intervals, so posting was tough. Longest thing I've ever written, and I'm basically doing the "close your eyes and post before you chicken out" thing. Many many many thanks to TappinCastleFan for being an awesome beta :) Bits are out of character, but again, I'm just having fun. I just wanted to elaborate on the "you smell like cherries." I may or may not add onto this, but for right now, this will be a "series" of one shots. And I own this shampoo, and it smells amazing. So, enjoy!_


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